


Competency Is A Thing

by katling



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Competent Finn, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, but he does pine, flagrant use of italics, jess is so done with these two, poe does not moon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-03
Updated: 2016-06-03
Packaged: 2018-07-11 23:34:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7075279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katling/pseuds/katling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Finn is competent, Poe is dazzled and Jess thinks they should just kiss already.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Competency Is A Thing

**Author's Note:**

> My first Stormpilot fic and I have to confess it's self-indulgent fluff. It also caters to a couple of my headcanons from the movie, namely a slightly amusing and silly one about about the TIE fighters based on Poe's startled reaction and a more serious one about Finn and exactly how bad or good a Stormtrooper he is based on what happens when Finn gets his hands on a blaster during the battle at Maz's place.

“Come on. No Stormtrooper who was actually good at being a Stormtrooper would defect.”

Poe’s head whipped around and he scowled as he tried to determine who had said that but the mess was crowded and the voice wasn’t a familiar one so his efforts were fruitless. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard that sentiment voiced since Finn had woken up and started being more visible around the base but as far as he knew, _Finn_ hadn’t heard the comments and when he looked around the former Stormtrooper, it seemed to be true now as well. At least, he didn’t _think_ Finn had heard what had been said. Sometimes it was hard to tell. Even without the helmet, Finn was good at hiding what he was thinking at times. At other times, he was an open book. Poe liked those times because they were almost universally when Finn was happy and as Poe had usually been responsible for that happiness, well…

He liked making Finn happy. And regardless of what his fellow pilots might suggest and insinuate and snigger about, Poe _wasn’t_ looking for more with Finn. Well, alright, that wasn’t _entirely_ true. He certainly wouldn’t say _no_ to more and it wasn’t that he’d didn’t _want_ it with all his heart but there was no way he was going to make things awkward or difficult for Finn by pushing for something he wasn’t ready for. The man hadn’t had many opportunities in his life to make choices for himself and if he were to choose Poe, the pilot wanted it to be _entirely_ Finn’s choice. 

They got to the unofficial ‘pilots’ table’ without any further incident and both Poe and Finn were greeted with enthusiasm by the others. The pilots had all but adopted Finn, initially in gratitude for saving their Commander but soon enough it was just because of Finn himself. They sat down opposite Snap and Jessika and were immediately drawn into their discussion.

“So are you ever going to tell us?” Jessika asked, levelling her fork at Poe.

“Tell you what?” he said with a raised eyebrow.

“What it was like flying a TIE fighter.”

“Oh.” Poe grinned. “They really move. Slicker than spit.”

Finn snickered and they all looked at him curiously. He quickly composed himself. “I tested for the TIE fighter pilot program.”

“Yeah?” Poe said, looking excited. He heard Jess smother a laugh on the other side of the table but he ignored her just as he’d been ignoring _all_ of her comments about his attitude towards Finn. He was not _mooning_ , thank you very much. Poe Dameron did _not_ moon after people. He might… _pine_ quietly but he did not _moon_. “How’d you go?”

“Unsuitable,” Finn replied with a wry smile. “But then again, most of the Troopers were unsuitable. Something about the conditioning from what I overheard. The pilots mostly come from the officers.”

Poe, Snap and Jessika all suddenly wore the slightly pinched expressions that any mention of the First Order Stormtrooper training and conditioning regime seemed to draw and they looked at each other as if unsure as to what to say. Finn wanted to tell them it was alright but he didn’t quite know how to go about that. Because it _was_ alright. It was bad, yes, but he knew that what had happened to him was wrong. He’d worked through enough of his past with the base psychiatrist to have grasped that. However, every time he tried to explain, he just got tangled up in his words and made them look even more distressed. Especially Poe. And he hated seeing that look on Poe’s face, he just hadn’t entirely acknowledged why. _Yet_ anyway.

“Why?” Poe eventually asked carefully.

They were all surprised when Finn snickered again then laughed outright. “Because the TIE fighters the First Order uses are all based on the model that was used for Darth Vader’s TIE fighter instead of the ordinary ones used by the Imperial forces,” Finn explained. “Which is fine, because they wanted the best, except that Darth Vader was, according to what we’re told in the Order, one of the best pilots in the Empire in his own right _and_ he was able to use the Force.”

“So?” Jessika said with a confused frown.

“So, the TIE fighters are incredibly responsive and it takes a hell of a pilot to control them at the best of times. Or the Force. Which, you know…” Finn replied. “That’s why TIE fighters have a gunner position. The pilots can’t concentrate on flying _and_ shoot at the same time.”

“Seriously?” Snap said dubiously.

Finn nodded. “That’s why most Troopers don’t pass the testing. I didn’t hear everything that was being said by the officers but it was something about part of the conditioning slowing down our reflexes just enough that we fail.”

“Is that why Stormtroopers are such lousy shots?” Jessika said without thinking.

“Jess!” Poe barked at the same time as Snap and the younger woman looked horrified.

“Finn, I…”

Finn surprised them all by laughing. “None of you have actually ever seen me shoot, have you? I know that most people think I was a pretty lousy Stormtrooper and that’s why I defected but…” He shrugged, ignoring the distressed look on Poe’s face. Well, not _ignoring_ it but letting it slide for the moment. He knew Poe had been trying to protect him from comments like that but given it was something he’d discussed with the psychiatrist, the protection was really quite sweet but largely unnecessary. “I had been recommended for the command path. You don’t get there by being bad at the basics.”

“You were on the command path and you defected?” Snap asked. His tone was entirely curious with no judgement in it but Poe bridled anyway, glaring at his fellow pilot. Snap ignored him. He was watching Finn shrewdly and suspected that this was something that had been building up for a while. So he was more than willing to offer Finn the prompt he needed to get it out.

Finn sobered. “I was a really good Stormtrooper but I was also a really bad one. I didn’t understand that back then and it kind of tied me up in knots but I’ve been talking to one of the psychiatrists here and I think I’ve untangled the worst of it.”

He paused and shifted a little in his seat. He felt Poe’s hand on his back and then the pilot was leaning in. “You don’t have to tell us, buddy.”

Finn gave him a crooked smile. “I want to.”

He got a long assessing look from Poe and then the pilot nodded, though he still looked worried. Finn liked that about Poe. He worried and fretted but if Finn was sure he wanted to do something, he never stopped him, just helped as much as he could. He looked up and saw Snap and Jess trying not to smirk at Poe then their faces cleared when the man in question looked away from Finn. He was pretty sure he knew what the looks and the comments he’d overheard the pilots directing at Poe meant but Poe hadn’t given any signs that confirmed it so he’d always hesitated to act on them. For now though, he set those thoughts aside.

“I was always good at the… mechanics of being a Stormtrooper,” he said quietly. “Always the top of my class or near to it. I’m a good shot, I’m great at hand to hand, I grasped strategy and tactics really quickly, all of it. I never had any trouble with that part. _That’s_ why I was on the command track.” 

He grimaced and realised his hands were shaking a bit. He pulled them off the table and into his lap and a moment later, he felt Poe’s hand wrapping around one of his. He managed a weak smile for the pilot and they both missed the amused looks on the faces of Jess and Snap. 

“But I’d gotten in trouble before for… caring,” he said. “Helping Slip, looking out for the others, not wanting to leave injured Troopers behind in simulations. That’s why I’d been assigned extra non-combat rotations until… well, until Jakku. And I…” A pained look shot across his face and Poe’s hand tightened around his. “I couldn’t fire on those villagers on Jakku. I couldn’t kill innocent and unarmed civilians. In the eyes of the First Order, that made me a _bad_ Stormtrooper.” He huffed and gave Poe a half-smile. “I was being sent for reconditioning when I decided it would be a much better idea to break you out and run away.”

Poe was caught between being horrified that Finn had so narrowly avoided that fate and his usual feeling of elation when he thought about that moment on the _Finalizer_. He was also having trouble grasping the idea that Finn had been considered a problem for being _human_. It made him want to jump into his X-wing and blast away the entire Order. But he didn’t say that, instead he went for something a little more light-hearted.

“Is that how it went? You never told me.”

Finn nodded. “Reconditioning is done in the same section as the interrogation cells so I was already _there_ and I’d passed by a couple of guards who were talking about how the Order had captured the best pilot in the Resistance. Then something clicked in my head and it just… I don’t know… _happened_.”

“Glad it did, buddy,” Poe said with the same wild grin he’d worn at the time.

“Yeah, me too.” Finn laughed. “Even if our escape was kinda haphazard.”

Poe joined in the laughter. “We made it though.”

“Back to _Jakku_ ,” Finn said with such deep disgust that even Snap and Jess laughed.

“So are you going to let us see these badass Stormtrooper skills?” Jess asked, leaning forward with a grin.

Finn looked startled. “Uh, I guess I could. Dr Kalonia has cleared me for light duties. I guess shooting a blaster kind of counts.”

“As long as you’re not running the obstacle course, it’d be okay,” Poe said then he paused. “Are you sure you want to do this, buddy? You don’t have to just because Jess is a pain in the arse.”

Jess’ “Hey!” was lost in Finn’s smile and laugh. “Yeah, it’s fine.”

The four of them adjourned to the firing range and somehow word seemed to fly around the base about what was going on as no sooner had Finn taken up position then there was a crowd gathering around and a lot of surreptitious bets being placed. Poe wanted to protest and shoo them all out of the room but then he caught sight of not only Major Ematt but also the General herself, both standing discreetly in a corner, watching intently.

Then Snap triggered the range’s automated targeting system and Finn started firing and Poe suddenly forgot about everyone else in the room in favour of staring in awe as Finn made shot after shot after shot, dead-centre every time he hit. He missed a couple of times when the twist from target to target clearly strained his still-healing back but when the score went up at the end of the round, there was a rousing and astounded cheer from the crowd. It was the highest score anyone had seen on the range.

Poe had to swallow down the sudden and _wildly_ inappropriately timed wave of arousal that flowed through him. With the General and Major Ematt in attendance, it was an incredibly bad time for his _thing_ for competency to raise its head and combine itself with his _thing_ for Finn. Though it was pretty clear to him that _competent Finn_ was going to be his new… _thing_.

“You’re drooling,” a voice murmured in his ear.

Poe was wiping his chin before he realised the voice belonged to Jess and that he wasn’t _actually_ drooling, just metaphorically so. Jess laughed at him merrily and he scowled at her.

“Go,” she said, giving him a shove forward before he could say anything. “Go congratulate your man.”

“He’s not _my_ man,” Poe muttered but he did what she said anyway because he wanted to. He shoved his way forward and slapped Finn gently on the shoulder. “Nice shooting, buddy!”

Finn’s smile widened into a grin and his eyes lit up at Poe’s praise. He was just about to answer when someone cleared their throat and they turned to see Major Ematt standing there.

“It was indeed,” the Major said dryly. “I know you haven’t yet made a decision about what you’d like to do with the Resistance, Finn, and your back isn’t entirely healed but when you’re ready, I hope you’ll give some consideration to joining my ground troops. We could do with someone like you.”

Finn looked stunned and then he beamed at the Major. “Yes, sir. I will, sir.”

The Major nodded and smiled then edged his way back out of the crowd. Finn was looking both happy and a little overwhelmed so Poe nodded to Snap and Jess and between them the three pilots managed to break up the crowd and get them to disperse. Snap and Jess followed the last of them out and Jess glared at Poe and gave a decided nod towards Finn. Poe scowled at her in return then turned back towards his friend.

Finn was now looking a lot less overwhelmed and Poe grinned at him. “Not bad, hotshot.”

“It, uh, felt good,” Finn said with a laugh. “Though I think my back needs to heal a bit more.”

“I saw the way you stuttered a few times,” Poe said, closing the gap between them and placing his hand on Finn’s shoulder. “You okay?”

Finn nodded. “Yeah, my back’s a little sore but it’s a good kind of sore, you know?”

Poe very firmly refused to let his mind go to the places it wanted to go at _that_ question. Because he could think of all _kinds_ of sore that would feel so _damn_ good as long as it was Finn making him feel that way. Or him making Finn feel that way. He was good with either really.

“Yeah.” He gripped Finn’s shoulder a little more tightly when his voice came out sounding kind of hoarse then swallowed hard. He was Commander Poe Dameron, best damn pilot in the Resistance. He was calm and suave and cool. He did _not_ have Finn-induced meltdowns in the middle of the gunnery range. Except, apparently, when he did. Like right now. “So.”

Finn seemed to see something on his face or in his eyes that made his eyes widen and Poe’s breath caught.

“Yeah. So,” Finn replied, his voice curling gently in a way that both terrified and delighted Poe. It kind of sounded like he’d figured something out.

“Oh, for kriff’s sake, just _kiss_ already!”

They both leapt apart at Jessika’s exasperated bellow but by the time they turned towards the door, she had already closed it again. Poe turned back to Finn, intending to say something about Jess being a pain in the arse but when he did, he found that Finn had closed the gap between them and was standing very close. _Very_ close. Close enough that Poe’s words died in his throat and he bit his lip rather than do what he actually wanted to do with a Finn who standing this close to him.

Finn smiled. “So I was right,” he muttered and before Poe could ask what _that_ meant, he was being kissed.

The kiss was inexpert and a little uncertain but Poe didn’t care. It was _Finn_ kissing him and that made it a _great_ kiss that could only get _better_. He brought his hands up to cradle Finn’s face, adjusted things a little and then their lips were sliding against each other’s in a way that was far hotter and a lot less awkward. Poe moaned into the kiss as he tried to deepen it further and felt more than heard Finn’s little gasp. The younger man pulled away and Poe chased him with a whine of protest for a moment then he swallowed and backed off.

“Finn?” he asked, hoping he hadn’t scared the younger man with his enthusiasm.

“That was…” Finn broke off and licked his lips. “I liked that.”

Poe laughed. Okay, so he hadn’t scared Finn off. That was very good. “Me too, buddy. Me too.”

“Can we… can we do it again?”

“Sure!” Poe grabbed Finn’s hand and started pulling him towards the door. “But let’s take it somewhere where we won’t be interrupted.”

Finn’s eyes darkened and Poe nearly tripped over his feet at the look on his face. “Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good.”

Poe resolutely turned away and concentrated on placing one foot in front of the other and not tripping or pushing Finn against a wall or down to the floor and just saying to hell with it. Because that _look_ … damn if Finn wasn’t going to kill him but it was going to be one hell of a way to go.


End file.
